Gray doesn’t see his role changing

Senior guard Jimmy Gray will be asked to score more this season than ever before during his college career. He’ll finally get the chance to play off the ball more and use his shooting touch, but that hasn’t changed his approach this preseason.

Gray, a Binghamton High graduate who logged more minutes than any player on the men’s basketball team last season while manning the point guard position, said despite his position he feels his role remains the same: leader.

Jimmy Gray

“I have a good feeling,” Gray said of how the backcourt situation will play out this season. “I’ve got good guard play that’s going to comfort me in the backcourt. I just have to get my teammates better and prepare them. I have to be that leader on the court regardless if I am the point guard or if I’m off (the ball). I’ve got to get everybody better and look to score when I get the opportunity.”

The presence of junior transfer point guard Rayner Moquete, who was named a captain of the 2012-13 team along with Gray, means the burden of running the offense will not fall entirely on Gray.

Gray played exclusively at the point last season. He logged an average of 34.5 minutes per game. He played 37 minutes or more in 14 games last season, including six games when he played 40 minutes and one overtime game in the conference tournament when he played 45 minutes against UMBC.

“He’s going to play both spots (point guard and shooting guard),” BU coach Tommy Dempsey said of Gray. “Ray can play the point. Ray’s a good point guard, and with the way Jimmy shoots the ball I want to be able to free him up.

“Jimmy is a great leader and a great captain, but I need him to score as well. I think a lot of times it’s hard to be the guy that has to run the whole show, be the guy who has to do all the leading, and be the guy who has to score the ball. I want to free his mind up a little bit to play as a scorer because we don’t have a lot of natural scorers right now. I think having Ray here will really help him. I think they’ll feed off each other real well.”

He scored 8.4 points per game, but he also led the team in assists (112), steals (60), and 3-pointers (48). The 6-foot 175-pound Gray was also second on the team in rebounds per game (3.6).